About CalTPA

The CTC redeveloped the state-sponsored teaching performance assessment, the California Teaching Performance Assessment (CalTPA). Pursuant to Education Code Section 44320.2, this assessment meets one of the requirements for earning a Preliminary Multiple Subject or Single Subject Teaching Credential. The Commission recently updated both its Teaching Performance Assessment Design Standards and Teaching Performance Expectations (TPEs), and so also updated the CalTPA to reflect these recent changes.


The redevelopment effort included the following main steps:

CTC Adoption of Revised Assessment Design Standards 
December 2015
TPE Validity Study
April–May 2016
CTC Adoption of Revised TPEs 
June 2016
Assessment and Scoring Rubric Development
June–October 2016
Pilot Test
January–April 2017
Field Test
Fall 2017–Spring 2018
Standard Setting
Summer 2018
CTC Adoption of Passing Standards
Summer 2018
Operational Administration
Fall 2018
graphic illustrating the TPA cycle of plan teach reflect apply

CalTPA Design

The revised CalTPA is structured around two full instructional cycles based on the pedagogical sequence of plan, teach and assess, reflect, and apply, each conducted within a school placement. The complete sequence is addressed by each instructional cycle, with candidates providing evidence of instructional practice for each step. Acceptable evidence may be in a variety of forms, including annotated video clips and written narrative. As the revised CalTPA is designed to address subject-specific teaching and learning, candidates are asked to respond to the instructional cycles within the context of their teaching assignments.

Together, these instructional cycles and the related rubrics assess a range of the TPEs.


Top of Page